Eclipse 98

1998 Feb 26

Touch and go with the clouds leading into the eclipse.. but just about all of
us saw totality. I was driving around the Island last minute like a madman,
stuck in traffic..trying to get around the clouds..

BUT .. for the most part the clouds dissipated with the fading sunlight
(cumulous)
I saw a slightly shorter eclipse than John Hopper sitting next to me here in
the CyberCafe, but nonetheless.. it was fab.

Corona..has more shade depth to the naked eye than on film, like the Orion
nebula does in a scope. Detail in the bright and dim parts at the same time.
Overwhelmingly though...the big news was the super-bright Jupiter and Mercury
in the same photographic field as the eclipsed sun which popped out on diamond
ring. Prominences were naked eye to some , not others.. but in the scope (TV85)
it was awesome with fine filamentary-like structure, especially at the 11:00
position alt-az, (physically it was a the 1:00 position)

NIGHT SKY...Dark skies.. yes, there are dark suburban-like skies.. Just under
mag. 5 at the hotels on Palm Beach, but on baby beach 6th magnitude at the
zenith at least, with southern milky way brilliant.. Eta Carina naked eye, etc.
. .however, to the north..the jail was blaring .
John Hopper, Chris Noren, Bill Charash, John Gleason, Bradd Gross, Ken Milburn,
Mike Brown, Victor Winklaar (from aruba!) all were there, splitting Omega
Centauri, and putting the O3 on Eta Carina (looked great, despite the haze) in
Ken's 10"
Split it later on in the trip in the TV85, but it wasn't the same.